Dietra DeRose, a professional ferret photographer from Palmerton, Pa., honed her craft by photographing her own 10 ferrets. Her Christmas morning tradition includes letting her ferrets run under the Christmas tree and around the presents. She photographs the resulting frenzy. Here are her tips for getting the best photos. Read More »

Paige Powell remembers the first time she met the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, who would later become her boyfriend. Although “The Andy Warhol Diaries” cites Aug. 9, 1983 as the couple’s first date, for Powell, the enduring impression came earlier.

It was 1981, around the time she saw a show of graffiti artist A-One over at Fashion Moda in the South Bronx. Her boyfriend at the time, Jay Shriver, Warhol’s technical assistant, took her to Basquiat’s loft on Crosby Street.

“We really got on together, so he was always trying to go out with me, and trying to take me to Jamaica and different places,” said Powell, who spoke with Speakeasy by phone from Portland, Ore. “So we would do stuff, but I wasn’t romantically involved with him then because I had a boyfriend, and also he was doing drugs. But then he got himself cleaned up.”

Over the years at Interview magazine and inside Warhol’s Factory, Powell—armed with a camera—amassed an archive of that inner circle of artists. Read More »

Photographer Julie Blackmon is inspired by the raucous family scenes of 17th century Dutch painter Jan Steen.

Ms. Blackmon, who works in Missouri, captured everyday playful, messy scenes with children in her new book, “Homegrown,” a collection of 40 photographs from the last five years that will be released in October.

The Met’s display of 175 pictures, many capturing the joys and turbulence of postwar American life, is one of the New York museum’s largest-ever exhibits on a single photographer. An expanded version of the show debuted last year at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

“Winogrand demanded of his pictures a kind of complexity and raw power that remains influential on picture-makers today,” said Jeff Rosenheim, curator in charge of the Met’s photography department. “The questions he asked about the role of the camera in our society remain relevant.” Read More »

More and more people are showcasing the stuff they own and love by arranging it into still-lives on shelves, counters and tabletops—then snapping shots to post on Instagram.

We’re borrowing the term “shelfie”—a combination of “shelf” and “selfie”—for these photos because they’re a great way to capture a snapshot of your design aesthetic. The light, the choice of objects, the composition…it all says something about who you are.

Do you like to capture vintage collectibles? Beautiful food or flowers? Handsome everyday objects? Or put a surprising mix together? Share your photos with The Wall Street Journal on Instagram or Twitter, adding the hashtag #WSJshelfie. We’ll be featuring some reader photos on WSJ.com. Read More »

A number of black students at Harvard University have taken part in a project called “I, Too, Am Harvard” seeking to share experiences in academia and in life that have left them feeling misunderstood, ignored and often insulted.

At the center of the campaign is a series of photographs of students, many displaying written messages ranging from quotes of civil rights leaders to personal thoughts. Most eye-catching and perhaps cringe-worthy among the messages are those recalling comments students say were directed at them, including “I don’t even think of you as black,” and “Can you read?” Read More »

The blog had offered $10,000 for the photos in a bid to take the fashion magazine to task for its supposed unrealistic portrayal of women. “In the end, while Dunham’s images were not drastically altered, it’s important to remember how unforgiving the media is when it comes to images of women,” the Jezebel story read.

But whether Jezebel got what it asked for is unclear.

“The before picture just seems way too perfect,” said Rob Haggart, the former director of photography for Men’s Journal and Outside magazine who has blogged about photography issues for the past six years at aPhotoEditor. “It could’ve come from Vogue’s retouchers, or maybe [photographer Annie Leibovitz’s], or it could’ve even been retouched before it left Annie’s shop.” In particular, Haggart analyzed a photo featuring a dog and bathtub. “That the final shot—everybody was in the exact position—I think is unusual that you wouldn’t have to take a dog out of a different frame, or even a tail,” he said in an interview with Speakeasy.

A representative for Vogue wouldn’t comment when Speakeasy asked to confirm whether the photos were originals. Read More »

They’ll offer tips on taking great photos, whether you’re using a tricked-out SLR or an iPhone. Best of all, they will critique your submissions, so send your favorite shot to us on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #photocritiqueWSJ.

Bushwick-based gallery SUGAR is trying to make people laugh. Owner Gwendolyn Skaggs hand-picked 60 funny photographs from the likes of Elliott Erwitt, Jacques-Henri Lartigue and Diane Arbus for an installation entitled A Sense of Humor. This Sunday at 2 p.m. Skaggs and art appraiser John Adam Staszyn will come together to discuss humorous imagery at SUGAR.

Celebrating the Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD) Photography Show, Skaggs hopes A Sense of Humor will hit the funny bone of its viewers. The amusing photographs range from a young Elizabeth Taylor shopping for bacon to a sheep standing backwards on a nude man laying in bed. Curated in a salon style, photographs are hung in varying sizes of frame from floor to ceiling. Read More »

About Speakeasy

Speakeasy is a blog covering media, entertainment, celebrity and the arts. The publication is produced by Barbara Chai and Jonathan Welsh with contributions from the Wall Street Journal staff and others. Write to us at speakeasy@wsj.com or follow us on Twitter at @WSJSpeakeasy or individually @barbarachai.